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Emergency grants help Save the Children support children when they most need it

May 2, 2018

When disasters and conflicts turn children’s lives upside down, our partners need quick access to cash to provide lifesaving help. That’s why the IKEA Foundation supports Save the Children with emergency funding, so they can send staff to hard-hit communities within 24 hours.

This ongoing partnership, which began in 2013, has helped over 300,000 children and adults during more than 30 emergencies all over the world. These include the earthquakes which hit Indonesia in December 2016 and fighting in Iraq, Uganda, South Sudan, Yemen and the Philippines.

The funding helps Save the Children protect children when they are most vulnerable. In many cases this means making it possible for kids stay in school—where they are safe—and helping them keep up their studies.

Our grants help set up temporary classrooms and provide teaching kits and other essentials, such as food and hygiene supplies. They also provide psychological support to help children overcome traumatic experiences.

When fighting broke out in Marawi in the Philippines in May 2017, thousands of children and their families were forced to flee. We gave Save the Children an emergency grant for €100,000 to set up ten temporary classrooms and provide back-to-school kits and hygiene kits.

“Having money made available like this was really important,” said Jerome Balinton, Humanitarian Response Officer for Save the Children, Philippines. “It enabled us to start work immediately and scale up when we realised how massive the destruction and the needs were.”

Shambhavi Sharma, Humanitarian Programme Manager at the IKEA Foundation, said: “Every child has the right to a safe place to call home and a quality education. Those rights are threatened when disaster and conflict strike—which is why we’re contributing nearly €3.5 million to help Save the Children respond quickly and efficiently.”